Readers should be able to perceive that paragraphs are not just sets of individual sentences but units in which ideas progress logically and flow from sentence to sentence. Writing in such a way is said to be cohesive. You can make your texts cohesive in two ways:
a) Use subjects that refer back to information introduced in previous sentences.
b)Use characters regularly in subject position.
The two-sentence example below uses option a) to create cohesion. The information presented at the end of the first sentence is immediately repeated and used as the subject of the second.
The paragraph below uses option b), a consistent string of characters in subject position.
Three of the four sentences in this paragraph have the same subject: in the first sentence the subject is used in its full form (the module of the Jean Monnet programme on European integration), in the third it is used in a reduced form (the module) and in the fourth it is used in its pronominal form (it).
Finally, the paragraph below uses a combination of the two options.
In this text, there are eleven subjects (in bold), of which seven are the same (readers or its pronominal form they). So the general principle governing the organization of this paragraph is the regular use of characters in subject position. However, the third and fourth sentences begin with a subordinate clause with different subjects (topics and that) which refer back to the information introduced at the end of the previous sentences.
a) Use subjects that refer back to information introduced in previous sentences.
b)Use characters regularly in subject position.
The two-sentence example below uses option a) to create cohesion. The information presented at the end of the first sentence is immediately repeated and used as the subject of the second.
 | Dr James Watson will give a seminar on the Human Genome Project. The project began in 1990 and is considered to be of such importance that funding has just been approved for the next 15 years. |
The paragraph below uses option b), a consistent string of characters in subject position.
| The module of the Jean Monnet programme on European integration will be taught in February. Registration is now open to university members and professionals working in the field. The module will be taught in Room 3 and is organized by lecturers from the Department of Public Law. It analyses recent legislation and the transformation of European law over the last 15 years. |
Three of the four sentences in this paragraph have the same subject: in the first sentence the subject is used in its full form (the module of the Jean Monnet programme on European integration), in the third it is used in a reduced form (the module) and in the fourth it is used in its pronominal form (it).
Finally, the paragraph below uses a combination of the two options.
| Readers understand what a passage is generally about when they see consistent ideas toward the beginnings of sentences, especially in their subjects. They feel a passage is coherent when they read a sequence of topics that focuses on a narrow set of related ideas. But when topics seem to shift randomly, readers lose their context of each sentence. When that happens, they feel they are reading paragraphs that are unfocused and even disorganized. Extract taken from Joseph Williams's Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace |
In this text, there are eleven subjects (in bold), of which seven are the same (readers or its pronominal form they). So the general principle governing the organization of this paragraph is the regular use of characters in subject position. However, the third and fourth sentences begin with a subordinate clause with different subjects (topics and that) which refer back to the information introduced at the end of the previous sentences.
Recommended citation:
«Cohesion» [en línia]. A: Llibre d’estil de la Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona. Serveis Lingüístics. <https://www.ub.edu/llibre-estil/criteri.php?id=2466> [consulta: 19 abril 2024].